Factors affecting implementation of curriculum innovation in my context in my local context

 

Factors affecting implementation of curriculum innovation in my context

 Change is continuous and oftentimes, it is meant to bring growth and change. Curriculum change means infusion  Some difference to give a new direction or position. In  curriculum innovation, this may mean change to its philosophy, through aims and objectives, revision of Content, methodologies and evaluation methods. .The education systems has been subjected to waves of reform initiatives for the past two decades or so and my context is no different. Governments come and go and with them, education policies keep on changing and so does the curriculum.

However as  Moffett (2000) contends, history of reform has proven to be counterproductive. Elmore (2007) agrees that, despite the amount of money and effort poured into reform efforts, sustainability has been elusive. “Historically, teachers have become numb to the panoply of change initiatives” (Hargreaves, 2005).So, the effort and attention that implementation receives is premature, should the aim be to build a sustainable change. Fullan (2007) concludes that efforts to institute enduring change have lacked the understanding of how change is received . He has indicated that there has been a rush to implement an idea, yet a critical step has been missing.

To start with,change,has been driven by a top-down mandate. Thus,  the process is already lacking a necessary ingredient which is commitment and ownership by the very members who will be accountable for implementing the initiative. This is interpreted by teachers that  their input is not significant and it’s the genesis of resistance and opposition. The  manner in which a change effort proceeds to the stage of implementing determines how well the initiative will progress .Lack of a strong commitment and ownership by the teachers affected, the proposed reform effort will lack the critical mass necessary to be sustained long term. If  changes and innovation do not engage those at the grassroots levels, who specifically are the implementers at the end, implementation process might not be successful. Marsh and Stafford (1988) states that, “if teachers perceive lack of ownership, either of the flowing can occur: deleting it entirely in their minds; giving it minimal time; not teaching in a manner intended; and even developing less enthusiasm regarding its impact ”p.101). This will give the principal a very hard times and the curriculum innovation process may fail flat on him.

Another Factor is  lack of  organization, of curriculum  into a single document, a curriculum. This being the case, a possibility some views and opinions are left out of the final document is there. Probably, this is why toward the end, there are leaders within a school who offer a site-based curriculum management to ensure that teachers are operating within an intended  track. This ensures that what is intended on theory is what is being implemented on the ground.

In my context, the following are some of the factors affecting curriculum innovation.

1)      The bureaucracy that hinders new processes.

2)      Resistance to change/Fear of embracing the unknown by both leaders and teachers.

3)      Lack of information and training for the teachers who have to implement.

4)      Lack of funds and resources to implement the innovation.

 In all these, the principal plays a key role in it’s Innovation:

Role of the principal in curriculum innovation

 The principal is heavily involved in any curriculum, more so than any other position in the public school system.   He/she is a plays the  middle person that must satisfy the board, superintendent, school staff, students, and parents. The principal is the key person in successful reform.  The innovation that involves the principal varies from his/her own choice made from determining need through research, a group decision like from the ministry curriculum committee, or a staff request to adopt a new curriculum.  The worst reason for the principal, comes from the top down order where the principal has no choice but is told that it must be done.  This is especially difficult if the staff has not been involved with the decision or determining the need.

  Knowing staff attitude toward change, for whatever reason, determines the approach that the principal must take when making a change.  Staffs are mostly sour to change these days, especially top down.  Approach to curriculum change and methods of teaching are often seen as fads by the staff.  For instance, Dr. Art Costa says that he, “…has been in education so long that it is his 5th Back To Basics movement since he started teaching.”

Strategies I could use in leading curriculum change

 The school principal is a leader and is responsible of creating a safe environment of cooperation and collaboration in the process of curriculum change. Therefore, there  is need for the whole school to understand the  change principles and the process of implementation. Thus ,as a principal, I must always determine the following if  I am to be successful:

- Understanding and being fluent in the new curriculum.

-Involve all by holding open discussions about how best implementation should be happen. This would call for working with departmental  to make the transition smooth.

- Determining the need or reason for change in my school .

- Understanding the mood of the staff and approach to take to develop cooperation with process. This means that everyone is clear about the direction and has had a chance to voice their concerns.

- Determining what the staff needs to know in order to make the change. I would develop structures and support groups for teachers to walk with each other through the implementation journey.

- How the change will be implemented and explained to the stakeholders .Here I will convince stakeholders meetings to ensure they understand the intended change process and expected outcome. This would go along way in reducing frictions especially from sponsors.

- What direction should evaluation of the change  take  it is implementation. This is to ensure that we receive the correct feedback as we envisioned in the goals of the intended change.